Abilities
Ability Table * Nocturn Magic is only available to Night Ravens. Assault Assault governs close-range combat with firearms or melee weapons. It is much more heavily focused on maneuvering and quickness of aiming than lining up accurate shots. Overcome Assault is rarely used to overcome obstacles but could apply in a situation like breaching a door or breaking through some other barrier with a weapon or hands. Create an Advantage Assault can be used to create combat advantages in close-range combat. This could be through distraction, tactical maneuvering, or any other up close means of preventing an enemy from fighting back effectively or being able to defend as well. Attack The primary purpose of Assault is to do damage up close and personal. This requires closing the distance, though the final push is often included in the Assault test. Assault cannot be used against flying targets unless the attacker is also flying. Defend/Resist Assault is used to repel close-range attackers as well, either by holding a position and shooting anyone who gets close or by blocking and countering attackers in melee. Marksmanship Marksmanship governs ranged combat using firearms at a distance. It usually involves taking the time to line up more accurate shots but covers rapid fire as well. Difficult/especially long-range shots are often used in conjunction with a spotter. Overcome Marksmanship is very rarely used to overcome obstacles but creative use of a well-placed bullet might come in handy. Create an Advantage Marksmanship can create combat advantages based on skillfully applied weapons fire. Covering fire is the obvious one, forcing the enemy to keep their heads down, or flushing them from cover. Additionally a called shot to a specific target might be a useful set up for further action. Attack Marksmanship is most often used to attack at a distance, requiring line of sight. Bombardment Bombardment governs indirect fire at a distance. This is most often used when operating artillery and mortars, but also covers lobbing grenades at unseen targets. The difficulty for Bombardment is often higher so it is best used in conjunction with a spotter. Overcome Bombardment is rarely used to overcome obstacles but might be useful in destroying a barrier at a distance. Create an Advantage Bombardment is also useful for providing covering fire, flushing targets out, or damaging infrastructure in ways that can be easily taken advantage of. Attack Bombardment is most often used to attack by lobbing projectiles from afar, out of line of sight. Bombardment cannot be used against flying targets. Movement Movement governs covering ground and various forms of traversing the battlefield. This includes running, climbing, swimming, and (for those that are capable of it) flying. Overcome Movement is used to overcome physical obstacles or dangerous areas that might block access to a desired location. Cliff walls can be climbed, firing fields can be darted through, and rivers can be crossed with Movement. As well, chasing someone to prevent escape uses Movement. Create an Advantage Movement is used to create advantages based on positioning, such as finding the high ground or an ideal flanking spot that requires the enemy to divide their attention. For those who can fly, it allows for claiming a dominant position in a dog fight or an ideal vantage point over the battlefield. Defend/Resist Movement is used to get out of the way of incoming artillery fire or to sprint from thrown grenades, as well as to avoid environmental hazards such as collapsing floor or burning buildings. Stealth Stealth governs the avoidance of various types of detection. This includes sneaking, hiding, trailing, disguises, camouflage, and other forms of deception. Overcome Stealth is used to overcome detection methods, such as sneaking past guards, hiding from someone looking for you, obscuring a trail, bluffing your way through examination, and anything else that requires avoiding being found out. Create an Advantage Stealth is most often used to create advantages regarding unknown information such as ambushes or concealment. An unaware foe is an easy target, after all. Defend/Resist Stealth is used to defend against Awareness tests to pin down your location or to guide indirect fire onto your position. It can also be used when someone is trying to attack you but your ability to hide might make it difficult for them to succeed. Awareness Awareness governs the senses and ability to analyze the world around you. This includes perception, searching, spotting, listening, investigation, and (for those who are capable) magical insight. Overcome Awareness is used to find hidden things, to examine a scene for more information, picking up on subtle cues or noises, or seeing through magical illusions if capable. Create an Advantage Awareness can be used to provide quite a few advantages based on observation and spotting. Providing feedback for a sniper or artillery position is a surefire way of increasing their accuracy. Knowledge on enemy positions is very useful for someone employing Assault. And generally picking up on useful situation Aspects such as structural weaknesses or gaps in guard patrols can help quite a few different Abilities. Defend/Resist Awareness is used to defend against enemies using Stealth against you, to notice the sounds of footsteps or movements or pick up facial ticks when someone is lying. Explosives Explosives governs most things that explode that aren't launched upwards at an arc or dropped from an aerial vehicle. This includes grenades, mines, rockets, the setting of demolition charges, disarming and creating bombs, etc. Overcome Explosives is used to overcome any threat that is explosive in nature. Defusing a bomb, sweeping a minefield, etc. It is also used to properly place and set off charges to demolish buildings or destroy barriers or collapse caves. Create an Advantage Explosives can be used to create advantages by blasting open new entrances into a building that the enemy were not prepared for, spraying them with rubble and dust that causes confusion and blindness, or just setting off decoy charges to attract attention in a different direction. Setting up mines on a road creates the situation Aspect of minefield and can be used in conjunction with other Abilities to force enemies into stepping/driving onto mines. Anything that involves using explosives to make another task easier falls under the purview of Explosives. Attack Explosives is used in attacking when the blast is directly being applied to a target. The use of a rocket launcher or throwing of grenades are the primary means of attacking with Explosives. Defend/Resist Explosives is not usually used to Defend but the knowledge it encompasses could potentially be useful in resisting damage when an explosive goes off, if it makes sense in context. Engineering Engineering governs many fields of construction, creation, tinkering, etc. It's used for operating heavy non-military machinery, overseeing projects, repair and maintenance, battlefield fortifications, and many other applications. Overcome Engineering allows you to create, dismantle, or fix quite a few different objects based on their current state and their desired one. It can be used to make things from scratch, improve things, or repair them from a broken condition. Create an Advantage Engineering is most often used to create advantages by building something or fortifying a location. Garrisoned troops would benefit from reinforced cover, while enemies wandering into an area that's been trapped might be more vulnerable to ambush. Additionally makeshift creations can create short-term but very useful advantages to a variety of Abilities. Medical Medical governs the ability to restore and ensure the health in an injured or sick patient. It includes battlefield first aid, extended medical treatment, diagnosing ailments, examining bodies, surgery, and administering medicine. Overcome Medical is used to diagnose a patient's condition or determine the nature of a toxin or disease afflicting them. Medical is also used to start recovering from a physical wound, converting injury Consequences to healing ones. Broken Leg becomes Splinted Leg, Bleeding Wound becomes Bandaged Wound, etc. The worse the wound, the higher the difficulty to treat. Create an Advantage Medical is rarely used to create advantageous Aspects, but can be used to clear disadvantageous ones instead. They must be related to a physical condition for this to work. The main way to create an advantage is in regards to the treatment environment, setting up a clean room or arranging tools and directing assistants to help with surgery. Defend/Resist Medical can be used to resist the effects of poison or disease in lieu of Physique if the person suffering is being administered to with the Medical skill. Aggression Aggression governs negative social interactions of all forms. This can be provoking, taunting, intimidation, interrogation, bullying, torture, or any other means of getting what you want through fear. Overcome Aggression is rarely used to overcome an obstacle, but might be used to get animals or people to back down or make way or give you what you want when they aren't overly intent on stopping you. If they are resisting, Aggression must be used to attack instead. Create an Advantage Aggression can be used to alter someone's state of mind, which can make him careless or hesitant based on the intent. It can also be used to draw attention to set someone else up to take advantage of the distraction. Attack Aggression can be used to mentally berate and socially humiliate someone into backing down. It can also be used along with appropriately intimidating surroundings to break a defiant prisoner's will. Leadership Leadership governs social interactions using authority, be it institutional rank or force of personality. Leadership is used to inspire desired actions, issue orders, command respect rally broken troops, interact with the chain of command, and more. Overcome Leadership is used to overcome hesitation on the part of allies and subordinates, to barrel through bureaucratic delays, to impress superiors, etc. Leadership can also used to aid recovery from morale and despair-related Consequences, converting "Broken Spirits" to "Light at the End of the Tunnel", or "Shaken Nerves" to "Breathing Deep", etc. Create an Advantage Leadership is used to create confidence and fighting zeal in soldiers, and can be used to assert authority in social situations that can be useful for accomplishing goals. Defend/Resist Leadership can be used in lieu of Willpower against mental attacks or any effects that cause despair or routing by soldiers or squadmates who have put their faith in the person leading them. Additionally it can be used to defend against challenges of authority. Rapport Rapport governs positive social interactions. Rapport can be used to charm or seduce, establish a bond with comrades, convince others through persuasion, make friends, improve a relationship, etc. It is also useful in building up a good reputation to protect against slander or attacks on your character. Overcome Rapport is used to establish good relationships with people through diplomatic or friendly interaction. It can be used to overcome suspicion or hostility that hasn't solidified into hate or belligerence. Rapport is also used to assist with recovery from reputation and social damage, converting "Slander and Lies" to "Counter with Truth" or "Backstabber" to "Rebuilding Bridges" and the like. Create an Advantage Rapport is used to create positive feelings and good moods that can be useful in tense social situations. Being buddy-buddy with someone is a good way to get them to lower their guard, which can be the perfect set up for a wide variety of other actions. Defend/Resist Rapport is used to defend against social attacks and undermining efforts, as well as attempts to indict or accuse you of something, regardless of whether you're actually guilty or not. Special: The Rapport Ability also gives you additional Stress boxes that can be used when taking reputation or status damage. For every Rank of Rapport after the first, gain an additional stress box that can only be used for social harm. Physique Physique governs physical toughness and strength. It is a blanket term that includes muscular brawn as well as lean muscle tone, cardiovascular health, and physical resilience. It is also useful in withstanding the scrapes and bruises that come with the dangers of combat. Overcome Physique is used to overcome obstacles that can be cleared using physical strength. Moving heavy objects, pushing things out of the way, holding a door closed, even breaking things using your hands, all fall under the realm of Physique. Create an Advantage Physique can be used to create advantages based on strength such as grappling or pinning someone, tipping a heavy object on top of someone, or anything else involving strength. Defend/Resist Physique can be used to defend against physical attacks by steeling yourself for incoming damage. Bracing against damage in this way is not ideal but can sometimes be the only option; its outcome is limited to Success even with 3 Hits (instead of Outstanding Success) and even if the attack would normally be entirely negated, the enemy still receives a Boost with a free invoke. Special: The Physique Ability also gives you additional stress boxes that can be used when being injured or exhausted. For every Rank of Physique after the first, gain an additional Stress box that can only be used for physical harm. Willpower Willpower governs mental resistance and spiritual fortitude. Willpower is used to resist unwanted influence, push through spiritual attacks, maintain self-control, ignore provocation, avoid the effects of shock, and anything else related to personal determination in the face of overbearing adversity. It's also used to delay the effects of physical exhaustion and magical drain. Overcome Willpower is used to overcome obstacles that require intense focus such as cracking codes or solving puzzles or doing difficult research. Create an Advantage Willpower is also used to counter mentally-clouding Aspects or any other disadvantages that can hinder your ability to make decisions quickly and effectively. Defend/Resist Willpower is used to defend against Aggression and mental or spiritual attacks of any kind. Special: The Willpower Ability also gives you additional Stress boxes that can be used when faced with demoralization or magical despair or influence. For every Rank of Willpower after the first, gain an additional Stress box that can only be used for mental or spiritual harm, or magical drain. Nocturn Magic Nocturn Magic (also called Nachtstrom, Night Magic, and Arcana Nocturnis) is the magical talent used by the Night Ravens. It governs their magical control over and ability to manifest darkness, sleep, dreams, and shadows. Permission: High Concept must include Night Raven Overcome Nocturn Magic can be used in much the same way as Stealth though with a greater emphasis on darkness. If the scene is already dark this or the method takes advantage of existing shadows, this can go unnoticed, but if being used to create supernatural darkness this is obvious, but can still be used to evade pursuers. Additionally Nocturn Magic can be used to cross barriers through short-range umbral transportation (i.e. stepping through shadows). On top of this, Nocturn Magic can be used to assist with recovery from traumatic or mental damage through the use of dream manipulation, converting "Haunting Memory" to "Reconciling Ghosts" or "Inner Turmoil" to "Bridge Through Troubled Psyche" and the like. Create an Advantage Nocturn Magic can be used to create a wide variety of advantages surrounding the manifesting of darkness and manipulation of altered states of mind. Sleepiness, dimmed perception of light, shadow phantoms, all useful for creating advantages that can be distracting or helpful in accomplishing something else. Attack Nocturn Magic is not normally used to attack foes directly, but those who are susceptible to fear or mental manipulation can be overwhelmed by the phantasms and visions that can be found within the darkness that Nocturn Magic can plunge them into. Defend/Resist Nocturn Magic can be used to defend in the same ways that Stealth is, by making it more difficult to accurately hit a target cloaked in darkness or stepping through shadows.